Nei
"Rolf... No matter what happens... I will always be at your side." : — Nei speaking to Rolf at the end of her text adventure Nei is one of the playable characters in Phantasy Star II. She is the sister-like friend and companion to Rolf. Characteristics Appearance Nei is the second created being part of a line of new, manufactured humans, a race collectively known as numen or newmen. She was created with half human and half biomonster DNA. One of the original scientists that worked on her claimed that when Nei was really young, she was much smaller and had a more cat-like appearance. Nei is a petite woman with red eyes and long, purple hair. Her hair, especially around her bangs, is teased in a matter that makes them appear extremely puffy. She has long, thin, pointed ears which have been the source of her torment all of her life. Many humans that see her ears assume that she is a monster, wrongfully believing the ears are biomonster horns. Nei prefers to wear clothing that allows her to travel in comfort. As a child, she scrounged together a brown cloak over a yellow tunic with brown shoes. On her neck was a bright red scarf. As a full-grown adult, Nei switched out her robes in favor of her iconic purple leotard with matching long-sleeved gloves, shoes, and choker. Personality Being created as a product of a half-human/half-biomonster, Nei was often feared by other humans, especially after the incident involving herself and the other being eventually revealed to be Neifirst, who was also part of Nei. As a result of the destructive behavior of her "sister," they were both placed on the bounty list. Nei became fearful for her life and was heavily dependent on others who strongly cared about her and her situation, such as the elderly couple who raised her and the scientist who learned the truth about her past. However, after being saved from death and taken in by Rolf, her sense of hope and living grew, nurturing her newfound optimism, confidence, and courage. Biography Made and born as a product of a mixture of both human and biomonster created by scientists, Nei was a part of that of a singular creation who grew into a being. However, she was also the counterpart of another like herself, and both became outcasts from society. Because of this, that other part left and sought revenge, and Nei was forced to escape. She was then found and taken in by a kindly elderly couple, who raised her as a daughter. However, a bounty was put on Nei's head, and she was pursued by a ruthless hunter named Darum. This lead to an incident where the home she was living in was burned and her adopted family was killed, forcing her to wander in the Motavian wilderness, until she eventually reached its capital city, Paseo. Upon there, she was beaten and then left behind by another hunter who wanted to make a profit out of her. She was then met by fellow hunter Rudolph Steiner and obtained a claw which is said to once been used by Myau, one of the mystical musk cats to ever lived. Nei's traveling in the city eventually led her to the scientist who was the one who placed her and Neifirst on bounty but was then surprised to learn Nei's true nature. He revealed to have family members owning musk cats as pets, whom some of them she made friends. However, Darum was also at Paeso at the time and soon encountered her, in which he killed the scientist for refusing to give up Nei and defending her. Upon his death, he gave Nei the vial containing a vital ingredient to the research of Numans, and she sold it to a clone lab employee. Darum encounters Nei once again afterwards and they both engaged in a fight; although she was able to defeat him, she was struck by his powerful blow. As just she was about to be killed, she was rescued in time by a government agent named Rolf. He tells her that his parents were also lost in an incident and invites her to his home. The two then enter a sibling-like relationship, with Nei in thanks of Rolf's hospitality. With the realization of no longer being conquered by her fears and a new sense of life, Nei discovered her newfound confidence and hope for her future. Months later, after hearing of Rolf's mission of investigating the Biosystems Lab, she pleads with him to let her come with him, saying that she would do anything to help him out; although he was initially reluctant, he eventually agreed. They are later be joined by six others with the same type of purpose (Rudo, Amy, Hugh, Anna, Kain, and Shir). During their travels, the group encounters Neifirst, who reveals Nei's origins being the same as hers; due to the history of her past, she has an immense hatred of man, which allowed her to set up the biomonster and climate control hazard in a way of punishing those who feared her. Nei explains that she only left that part of her because of the horrors inside, but the worst is that being made what she is today and would not make the problem any more worst. Challenged to a fight by the angered Neifirst, Nei lunges to her, but is beaten and fatally wounded. Knowing that she would not live any longer, Nei tells Rolf to never let the scientists make the same mistake when they created her and wishes him and everybody in Algo happiness and peace. She dies afterwards, leaving Rolf and his friends to avenge her. Nei is later said to be buried in the grassy plains outside Paseo. However, in Phantasy Star Generation: 2, she can be revived after a lengthy process involving a completed game with that and the prequel's remake, despite in the original game. It is unknown if this event is canon. Nei makes a cameo appearance in Phantasy Star IV. Abilities Nei, although not very strong and thus cannot wear heavy armor, is very agile and good with healing techniques. She is the only character to wield bars (claws in the Japanese version) as a choice of weapons, but cannot use knives, as well as one of the two characters who can wear the Knifeboots, along with Anna. Nei, like Rolf, is playable from the start but is the only character who cannot be renamed by the player. Stats Nei gains levels quickly (she levels up about twice as fast as Rolf, for example), but even with her rapid levels, her luck and dexterity grow the slowest of all the playable characters, and her other stats grow at an average rate, meaning that she has the weakest fighting abilities of all the characters. Other Appearances Phantasy Star II Adventure Book Of the three adventure titles published by Futabasha for the Phantasy Star original classics, one of them was a choose your own adventure story about Phantasy Star II. Featured on the cover is Rolf and his gang in slightly modified costumes. Depending on the reader's choices, the ending and situations Nei finds herself in could change drastically from the events of the video game. The game books were only published in Japan. Segagaga Nei makes a major cameo appearance along with other Sega video game heroes in Segagaga. She can be recruited by the game's protagonist to join his party. Her encounter appearance artwork is very similar to the design concept used for NM-1153, who is also called Nei, in the Phantasy Star Memorial Drama CD ~Sealed Memories~ drama. In Segagaga, Nei frequently complains about her depiction on the American box art for Phantasy Star II. World War Blue There is a major character that is based off of Nei in the cast of the console wars parody, Aoi Sekai no Chūshin de which is commonly translated as World War Blue. In this world, the character Nel is a timid yet sweet individual that utilizes a single-handed claw weapon in the battle. Her relationship with Gear, the series' protagonist that is an obvious homage to Sonic the Hedgehog, heavily alludes to the brother-sister relationship Nei had with Rolf in Phantasy Star II. Gallery : The Phantasy Star wiki has an extensive image gallery for this character. Category:Phantasy Star II Characters Category:Newmans